False twisting machines generally include the following major components:
A plug-in rack which holds the supply bobbins;
A draw roller mechanism for pulling the threads from the supply bobbins and delivering them at a predetermined speed. The draw roller mechanism may include several pairs of rollers and may also be embodied as a stretching mechanism;
A first heat treatment zone in which the threads are heated up to their softening temperature;
A cooling zone in which the previously heated threads are cooled down again;
A false twisting device which imparts to the threads a false twist whose rotation extends into the heat treatment zone;
A second draw roller mechanism for transporting the threads through the first heat treatment zone and through the false twisting device at a predetermined tension which is substantially responsible for the type of thread produced;
A second heat treatment zone in which the previously treated threads are now subjected to a further heat treatment;
A third draw roller mechanism which guides the threads at a predetermined tension through the second heat treatment zone; and
A wind-up mechanism for winding the threads on spools.
The spooling mechanisms generally are disposed on several levels.
The sequential disposition of these various mechanisms during the treatment of the thread by the above-described method is generally more or less fixed; however, the spatial location of these components is subject to choice. For this reason, there is known a great variety of different spatial configurations of the various components of a false twisting machine but all of these different configurations have distinct disadvantages.
The conditions which machines of this type must obey are, among others, the following: The various components must be accessible to service personnel. If the components are all located on a single level so as to be serviceable from that level, they require a great deal of room both in length and width and, furthermore, the path of the thread is very long and unfavorable. For this reason, it is customary to build vertically and to provide a second service level. This configuration, however, considerably increases the movements of the service personnel unless those components which require service and exchange more frequently are so disposed as to be serviceable from a single level. For example, it is a disadvantage to locate plug-in racks and spooling mechanisms one on top of the other because the transport of the heavy filled-up bobbins and spools through vertical distances is cumbersome and requires the expenditure of strength. It is also disadvantageous to dispose components of the machine on top of heat treatment zones because the rising heat from those zones has disadvantageous effects. Further, it is disadvantageous to locate the two heat treatment zones vertically superimposed because they are usually quite long and the entire apparatus then acquires excessive vertical height or the cooling zone no longer has sufficient space. It is also disadvantageous to dispose the heat treatment zones horizontally because in that case the substantial heat rising from the zones represents a considerable energy loss and causes undesirable heating of the surrounding space.